On Tuesday of last week, the outlook for our bonus bar game was good. We had eight players, and if we've learned anything from eight plus years of running bar games, it's that it's always good to have a safety. Alas, inclement weather stranded David Spanos in New Jersey, and then Patrick McReady, a new recruit from earlier in the month, failed to show up.

For the first time in the three-year history of the Bar Room Brawl, we were able to field an Undercard game during the championship on Wednesday night. For the players in that game, it meant an opportunity to swim in water that wasn't quite as infested with sharks as the typical Weasels board. In other words, it meant an opportunity for those players to be the shark.

When plague and work thundered through the Trotta household, flattening Jake's two recruits for Game No. 285 at the Red Lion last night, organizer Matt Sundstrom was all set to settle for a six-player teaching game. Cancelling wasn't an option, as we still had two new recruits, including one playing her first game ever. A six-player game was better than turning them away.

But then a mysterious stranger named Mike darkened the doorway at the Red Lion. Instead of a good piece of hickory, he was carrying a pen. We let that slide because the game was saved.